Frank Ocean Hosted A “Paris Is Burning”-Inspired Vogue Ball For His 30th Birthday

Frank Ocean doesn’t talk a lot about his sexuality, but he didn’t shy away from queer culture in celebrating his 30th birthday: The “Pink Matter” singer hosted a Paris is Burning inspired drag ball on Saturday, where Tyler, the Creator, Joanna the Scammer and actor Karl Glusman (Love, Neon Demon) were among the guests.

The singer-songwriter is clearly a fan of Paris is Burning: He sampled dialogue from the doc in “Ambience 001” from 2016’s Endless.

Ocean first addressed his sexuality in 2012, recounting on Tumblr a relationship he had with another man when he was 19: “We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Every day almost, and on the day we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile. By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless.”

After Prince’s death in 2016, Ocean shared that the “Purple Rain” singer helped him come to terms with his sexuality.

Eamonn McCormack, Getty Images

“He was a straight black man who played his first televised set in bikini bottoms and knee high heeled boots,” Ocean wrote on Tumblr. “He made me feel more comfortable with how I identify sexually simply by his display of freedom from and irreverence for obviously archaic ideas like gender conformity, etc. He moved me to be more daring and intuitive with my own work by his demonstration—his denial of the prevailing model.”